Ritual of Fire
Cesare Aldo, Book 3
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Ritual of Fire
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Narrated by:
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Mark Meadows
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By:
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D. V. Bishop
About this listen
The Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Winning Author
Winner of the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel
'It's hard to think of a better guide than D. V. Bishop to the brutality and glamour of Renaissance Florence' - Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Royal Secret
'Fast becoming a serious rival to C. J. Sansom and S. J. Parris' – Historical Novel Society
Florence. Summer, 1538.
A night patrol finds a wealthy merchant hanged and set ablaze in the city’s main square. More than mere murder, this killing is intended to put the fear of God into Florence. Forty years earlier, puritanical monk Girolamo Savonarola was executed the same way. Does this new killing mean his fanatical disciples are reviving the monk’s regime of holy terror?
Cesare Aldo is busy hunting thieves in the Tuscan countryside, leaving Constable Carlo Strocchi to investigate the killing. When another merchant is burned alive in public, the rich start fleeing to their country estates. But the Tuscan hills can also be dangerous.
Growing religious fervour and a scorching heatwave drives the city ever closer to madness. Meanwhile, someone is stalking those powerful men who forged lifelong bonds in the dark days of Savonarola.
Unless Aldo and Strocchi work together, all of Florence will be consumed by an inferno of death and destruction.
Ceremonial murder has returned to Florence. Only two men can end the destruction. Featuring Officer Cesare Aldo, Ritual of Fire is an atmospheric historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Italy.
Ritual of Fire is the third Cesare Aldo mystery, preceded by City of Vengeance and The Darkest Sin.
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Story4 out of 5 stars 14
Accused of treason and stripped of his knighthood, Crispin Guest has survived on the gritty streets of London by reinventing himself as The Tracker, an investigator for hire who can locate lost objects and uncover secrets. When the merchant Nicholas Walcote hires Guest to investigate his young wife Philippa for adultery, he discovers an underground world of danger and dirty dealings. Philippa is indeed hiding something—but she's not the only one. Walcote himself is rumored to possess a holy relic so powerful that some would even kill for it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Character insight and I am satisfied with my short answers and don’t want to count out 15 words!
- By frances anne bramhall on 05-06-24
By: Jeri Westerson
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The Bard's Blade
- The Sorcerer's Song, Book 1
- By: Brian D. Anderson
- Narrated by: Andrew Kingston, Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
Mariyah enjoys a simple life in Vylari, a land magically sealed off from the outside world, where fear and hatred are all but unknown. There, she's a renowned wine maker, and her betrothed, Lem, is a musician of rare talent. Their destiny has never been in question. Whatever life brings, they will face it together. Then, a stranger crosses the wards into Vylari for the first time in centuries, bringing a dark prophecy that forces Lem and Mariyah down separate paths. How far will they have to go to stop a rising darkness and save their home?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Something new
- By Blaise Ancona on 02-20-20
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The Midwife's Tale
- A Mystery
- By: Sam Thomas
- Narrated by: Leila Birch
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 96
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4 out of 5 stars 82
It is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’ hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Only so so
- By Marie on 11-13-13
By: Sam Thomas
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The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 223
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 197
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Story4 out of 5 stars 197
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining Historical Fiction
- By Simone on 05-01-17
By: Andrew Taylor
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The Lost War
- The Eidyn Saga, Book 1
- By: Justin Lee Anderson
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 342
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 308
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
With a ragged peace in place, demons burn farmlands, violent Reivers roam the wilds and plague has spread beyond the Black Meadows. The country is on its knees. In a society that fears and shuns him, Aranok is the first magically-skilled draoidh to be named King's Envoy. Now, charged with restoring an exiled foreign queen to her throne, he leads a group of strangers across the ravaged country. But at every step, a new mystery complicates their mission.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Holy Cow!
- By Lisa M. Perkey on 05-11-20
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Cathedral
- By: Ben Hopkins
- Narrated by: Malk Williams, Sophie Roberts
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
A sweeping story about obsession, mysticism, art and earthly desire. At the centre of this story is the Cathedral. Its design and construction in the 13th and 14th centuries in the fictional town of Hagenburg unites a vast array of unforgettable characters whose fortunes are inseparable from the shifting political factions and economic interests vying for supremacy. From the bishop to his treasurer, from local merchants to lowly stonecutters, the fate of everyone, both Gentile and Jew, is affected by the slow rise of Hagenburg’s cathedral.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting description of life in the Middle Ages
- By leongork on 06-30-21
By: Ben Hopkins
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Servant of Death
- Bradecote and Catchpoll
- By: Sarah Hawkswood
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
The much-feared and hated Eudo - the Lord Bishop of Winchester's clerk - is bludgeoned to death in Pershore Abbey and laid before the altar in the attitude of a penitent. Everyone who had contact with him had reason to dislike him, but who had reason to kill him? The Sheriff of Worcestershire's thief taker, wily Serjeant Catchpoll, and his new and unwanted superior, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, have to find the answer. And as the walls of the abbey close in on the suspects, the killer strikes again....
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3 out of 5 stars
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Medieval armchair mystery
- By Marie on 08-12-17
By: Sarah Hawkswood
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Grave Mercy
- His Fair Assassin, Book 1
- By: Robin LaFevers
- Narrated by: Rachel Frawley
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 12
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good premise, poorly executed
- By Vanessa on 06-28-23
By: Robin LaFevers
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Crowner Royal
- By: Bernard Knight
- Narrated by: Paul Matthews
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
London, 1196. At the command of Richard the Lionheart, Sir John de Wolfe has left his beloved West Country for the Palace of Westminster, where he has been appointed Coroner of the Verge. But with the king overseas, embroiled in a costly war against King Philip of France, Sir John is dismayed to discover that the English court is a hotbed of greed, corruption and petty in-fighting.
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5 out of 5 stars
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good
- By Wadie on 02-05-10
By: Bernard Knight
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131 Days: Omnibus 1
- Books 1-3
- By: Keith C. Blackmore
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 40 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 189
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 189
Once every year, in the city of Sunja, gladiators Baylus, Goll, and Halm meet in the arena known as Sunja’s Pit. Their battles are epic, but deadlier still are the shadowy forces that conspire against them outside the Pit. Only by applying their brutally honed survival instincts can these brave warriors hope to win their freedom and exact grisly revenge upon their enemies.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narration is amazing, story is a joke
- By Vi on 12-11-22
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The Seven Wonders
- A Novel of the Ancient World
- By: Steven Saylor
- Narrated by: Stephen Plunkett
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 175
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Story4 out of 5 stars 174
USA Today hails Steven Saylor as a “modern master of historical fiction.” Rich in intrigue and period detail, his novels set in ancient Rome have garnered acclaim the world over. A prequel to his epic Roma Sub Rosa series, The Seven Wonders follows series star Gordianus the Finder as an 18-year-old traveling the Mediterranean to witness the wonders of that fabled age. At each stop, the young investigator finds a beguiling mystery that pushes his powers of deduction to the limit.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Interesting History, Not much of a story
- By Mark on 08-10-12
By: Steven Saylor
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Thieftaker
- Thieftaker Chronicles, Book 1
- By: D. B. Jackson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 497
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 448
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Story4 out of 5 stars 454
Boston, 1765: In D.B. Jackson's Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I wanted to like it more...
- By Alison on 12-21-13
By: D. B. Jackson
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A Plague of Heretics
- By: Bernard Knight
- Narrated by: Paul Matthews
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Story5 out of 5 stars 25
Following a series of murders which appear to be linked to a revival of heresy, some of the cathedral canons begin a crusade against this danger to the Church. When Sir John is accused of being too sympathetic to the heretics, the coroner finds himself having to seek sanctuary in order to save his own life. Can he survive long enough to unmask the real killer?
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Fond Farewell to Crowner John
- By Marie on 09-07-13
By: Bernard Knight
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Bloodstone
- By: Paul Doherty
- Narrated by: Terry Wale
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
December, 1380. When the corpse of Sir Robert Kilverby is discovered in a locked room, Brother Athelstan accompanies the King’s coronor to investigate. For the late Sir Robert had in his possession a sacred bloodstone which he was planning to donate to the Abbey of St Fulcher-on-Thames.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Pointless
- By Fiammetta Rey on 10-01-21
By: Paul Doherty
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The King's Return
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story5 out of 5 stars 19
The king's coronation brings hope. Until a murderer strikes. Spring 1661: After years of civil war followed by Oliver Cromwell's joyless rule as Lord Protector, England awaits the coronation of King Charles II. The mood in London is one of relief and hope for a better future. But when two respectable gentlemen are found in a foul lane with their throats cut, it becomes apparent that England's enemies are using the newly re-established post office for their own ends.
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5 out of 5 stars
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More please
- By tara souther on 12-22-22
By: Andrew Swanston
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Prince of Wolves
- By: Dave Gross
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 495
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 455
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 455
For elven pathfinder Varian Jeggare and his devil-blooded assistant Radovan, things are rarely as they seem. Yet not even the notorious crime-solving duo is prepared for what they find when a search for a missing pathfinder takes them into the mist-shrouded mountains of gothic Ustalav.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Like the tabletop RPG Adventure I always wanted.
- By Steven on 04-07-16
By: Dave Gross
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Star Eater
- By: Kerstin Hall
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she's able to stomach the gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Order's magical bloodline horrifies her, but the Sisters of Aytrium have sworn to pay a price for the safety of their nation. Elfreda wants out, whatever the cost. So when a shadowy cabal approaches her with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Order....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Strong performance in a cannibalistic world
- By Bri N Miller on 06-23-21
By: Kerstin Hall
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Phoenix Unbound
- The Fallen Empire Series, Book 1
- By: Grace Draven
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 856
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 769
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 766
Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital - her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses. But this year is different. Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion - and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Nothing special. Highly predictable
- By J. C. Schmidt on 10-10-18
By: Grace Draven